'Government should give more thrust to agriculture'

 In 1950, agricultural sector contributed 45-50% of the country’s GDP. But now, the contribution has fallen to 15%. There is a need to give more thrust to agriculture, said Krishik Samaja president Sampath Samrajya.

He was speaking as the chief guest at the valedictory programme of ‘Krishi Ranga’, a summer camp on agriculture for children, organised by Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sanketa and Team Scuba at KVK premises in Yekkoor on Saturday.

He said that the government seems to have been focusing more on the service sector. But, there is an urgent need to focus more on agriculture in order to increase the GDP contribution from the sector. Samrajya said that nature is a great institution and there is a lot to learn from it. Migration of people from villages to towns has increased to a great extent. One of the reason for this is the lack of development in villages, he said. Development of rural areas is not upto the mark, compared to that of urban areas. On the other hand, the urban areas are polluted due to increased industrial activities, he said.

Extension Director of Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University in Bidar, S M Shivaprakash felt for a need to diversify the interests of children towards agriculture. He called upon the people from other sections of society to involve themselves in agricultural activities. The farmer of India has been facing a lot of problems such as erratic rainfall, droughts and burden of loans, he lamented.

Head of Krishi Vigyan Kendra Prof Shivakumar Magada, delivering the keynote address, said that 34 children have taken part in the camp and have practically experienced the methods of diary farming, poultry, piggery, fish farming, ornamental fish keeping, compost making, agriculture and horticulture. A day's trip was organised to Soan's Farm, Moodbidri, Ganjimutt farm and other places, to make the children aware of integrated farming, he said.

Agricultural activities were held in the mornings while theatre activities were held in the evenings, as part of the camp, he added.

Participants Jaison Lobo from Aloysius High School, Urwa and Disha from KVK Number -2 from Yekkoor shared their opinion on the camp. The participants were awarded certificates on the occasion.

Fisheries College Dean K M Shankar presided over the programme.